All Wrapped and Ready To Go! The Beatitudes

ALL WRAPPED AND READY TO GO:

BEATITUDES: GOD’S BLESSINGS!

EXEGESIS: The goal of exegesis is telos—seeing God face to face

To explain or interpret, especially Scripture; always done from the ancient languages of Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic

Two traditional interpretations of The Beatitudes

Monastic: Medieval Catholicism - hermeneutical key: 5:48. “Be perfect...”

There are two sorts of Christian believers:

1). Those with a ‘special calling’ - monks, nuns, priests

2) Everyone else

Theory of Impossible Ideal: following Luther

Hermeneutical key: because sin (total depravity) makes it impossible for anyone to fulfill these commands so the point of Jesus’ first sermon is to show forth the necessity of grace

Two Contemporary Approaches:

1). Social/scientific

2) Literary

SS: reconstruction of the Matthean community (ethnic, religious, retrieval of social memory, and relationships between different groups)

Literary: The specific text is always interpreted within the larger text - contextual;

3 questions of The Sermon Jesus gives:

1). To whom is it addressed?

2) Why this particular message

3) How can we as disciples live into this alternative community Jesus preaches and lives?

1). Jesus is preaching to His disciples and the crowds that follow Him every where he goes. He is offering what Dale Bruner calls, ‘preventive medicine’. That is, Jesus wants to do public health work, generate communities by offering words of hope, plenty, respect, support. The scaffolding of the upside down kingdom, to build our lives within the realm of heaven’s drawings rather than the the frame of competition, fear and scarcity that the world offers.

The political context is the Roman Empire and the religious context is the elite Jewish Establishment. The lesson here: those who receive God’s blessings ARE NOT the ones in power. Whatever the measurements within these societies, God does not bless their status or measure their value by their own accomplishments. God deems worthy and stands beside the weak, forgotten, justice-seeking, peace making, rabble rousers, the disquieted in the land. Those who are measured as of no account—in Paul’s telling words, “you who are ‘foolish’ in the eyes of the world by believing the message of the cross...” - these are the ones who are gathered in to live in the realm of heaven.

ALL WRAPPED AND READY TO GO:

Empire structures worth on this list:

Rich, happy, satisfied, ruthless, deceptive, aggressive, safe, well-liked; imagine The Wolves of Wall Street. In Jesus’ world, a world of encouragement and consolation, the valued are poor, weak, hungry, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, persecuted.

Let’s be honest: worldly values have not changed much since the 1st century. They are contextualized within given societies, but the demands of empire remain the same. Get the most, keep it, protect it, defend it, rig the system in your favor, measure yourself against your neighbor or co-worker or celebrity or sports star, on Instagram or Pinterest or Tik Tok. Never give up, never give in. You’ll be blessed-God wants you to be rich! Of course, if you are not, its on you. You don’t have enough faith.

‘God bless the poor in spirit, because THEIRS is the kingdom of heaven’

The very first group identified in Jesus’ powerful sermon, begins with ‘theirs’ a genitive of possession - the kingdom belongs to them and exists for them. Ergo - Those who are not poor in spirit are not in the kingdom. All those who claim they are ‘self-made’ those whose wealth masks their common human needs, those who reject relationships as necessary to flourish. Even those who think they are pretty darn good, not really full blown sinners, anyway.

Matthew takes the Hebrew word, anawin ‘poor’ literally, those who are crushed by the empire’s system - they who suffer in their poverty and beg for help. He translates Jesus’ Aramaic to suggest it is both temporal poverty as well as spiritual poverty that makes them cry out. It is a poverty that is lived out in the daily fabric of peoples’ lives but is structural in its economic framework.

For instance, we now know that the wealth created by the Slave Class in this country, and how the work of the slaves’ hands did not benefit them, rather their owners, which generates a 400% wealth inheritance difference between Anglo-Americans and African-Americans 200 years later. In a simplistic form, we can say, God helps those who cannot help themselves.

To be spiritually poor is to consistently recognize our personal failings, the inadequacy of our faith, the inability to neutralize our covetousness. We are sinners in need of grace every day of our lives. And it is true, by the foolishness of the cross, we are made saints in the realm of heaven. Beloveds!

We are called to live grateful lives because our impoverishment has been met by God’s amazing generosity. I am always taken back when I stop and realize Jesus’ glance is outward, toward the farthest ones away, who cower, below the weight of their enforced poverty.

ALL WRAPPED AND READY TO GO:

2). Jesus is the New Moses - Matthew wants us to understand. His Jewish audience recognizes the pattern: up on the mountain, Mt. Sinai, Moses receives the 10 commandments. Not long after their liberation from Egypt, right before they walk into the Promised Land. These instructions are not HOW TO ACQUIRE DIVINE BLESSING IN 10 EASY LESSONS! Instead, they are a means of living together, as a community, in response to God’s blessings.

So too, up on the mountain, Jesus sits down to teach, the proper decorum for a great rabbi. There, He offers the Beatitudes. As we say, these are not the entrance exams into heaven. Their verb form tells us so. They are not imperatives: go be poor, meek mourn, etc. They are indicative - this is the way things are right now, but Jesus says, let Me tell you how things are really going to be when the kingdom of God fully arrives.

I got to thinking about a contemporary list of beatitudes over the years. Maybe in language closer in to our daily lives:

God bless those who are lonely, right now

God bless this marriage falling apart, right now

God bless this childless woman, right now

God bless lgbtq people, right now

God bless Black Lives Matter right now

God bless Mexicans, Central Americans, Syrians, Iraqi Refugees, Iranians and other immigrants, right now

God bless all the Asian American communities, right now

God bless the divorced, right now

God bless the widowed, right now

God bless the broken-hearted, right now

We beg for God’s blessing in all our broken places, but not just for me and for you. ITs a plural word--God bless any who are poor in spirit, any who are mourning, any who are broken by life. By Jesus’ authority, may they be held in God’s hands. (Pause)

This leads me to ponder the phrase, “God bless America”. Why do these words leave me uneasy? (pause)

What does God require of us?

Micah answers the question, “Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with your God. The Psalmist says, “walk blameless, do what is right, don’t slander or gossip, don’t charge interest; don’t harm the innocent; Paul says, “Hey, remember? You are the foolish! (The Greek word is mora, moronic) God calls to be His church. The only boast you can make? Christ, and Him crucified.” Words generate worlds - of hope and consolation; of witness and standing beside; of comfort and laughter. Words generate worlds - of inadequacy and failure; unforgivable shame and guilt; rejection and isolation. The hauntings can last a life time.

Into the abyss, Matthew’s Jesus preaches, “You want to be moral? Then be merciful. This is the framing of your ethics: mercy, in these words of Divine Gift. Jesus says and lives a arms wide-open posture, forgiveness on the tip of His tongue, a standing with, a reaching out, hey, here’s my hand, uh? It is a profound gesture first spoken and enacted at the moment of creation: God saw it was good, very good, the cosmos and the humans, be blessed, multiply, be good stewards of all that is in front of you. This blessing has never been cutoff, it is a through line to Jesus and now all the way to us sitting here today.

What you have been given? Mercy. Go give it away. You want a blessing? Go be a blessing: let humility be your watchword, bring peace to every situation you are in, open your heart wide open in generosity and forgiveness again, Oh, and you might be persecuted or reviled, as you live into the upside-down kindom. No matter—Jesus says - I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

All Wrapped Up and Ready to go!

Behold!!! John 1:29-42

BEHOLD!!!

Isaiah 49:1-7; Psalm 40; John 1:29-42

Rev. Tiare L. Mathison, Pastor & Soul-Tender

Desolate was my name after a very messy and very public divorce in a town of 15,000 people in Iowa in 2008. Co-pastors of a church that suffered immense grief and anger, themselves betrayed by the split.

Out of the miry bog, God placed my feet on the hewn rock, strong Black Angels surrounded the territory of my healing space. Hagrid?

I learned a new song. I know my Redeemer lives. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

This song is not mine alone. This singing to peoples from far away is God’s way of catching the ear of all who will listen. All the nations of the world, the Psalmist declares. It is a song of healing, hope and clarity. Yahweh stakes a claim on Her people, a covenant renewed, a reminder to remain faithful. Tell the stories of deliverance, do not hide your salvation, preach it sisters & brothers, see what God has done for me! God is already down in the miry bog when you get there, this God resides very, very near. This God stays in the pit until all are saved. Behold!!!

I have a good friend, Ann, who is going through a rough round of chemo for ovarian cancer, to get ready for surgery tomorrow and then more chemo and/or radiation. She told me recently she was crying out to God in the middle of the night about all that was wrong with her life. She says, “In a Boston kind of accent I heard these words:

I’m workin on it!” Behold!!!

So tell me,

What are you looking for today? What brought you to worship? Desire? Resolve? Habit? Hunger for community? Do you count on an encounter with the Living God? Do you need to be here, to strengthen your faith for another tough week of life? Or maybe you just thoroughly enjoy the music and the singing! Behold!!!

In Jewish tradition, the lamb is rooted in their self-identity and their liberation, for it is the lamb’s blood that became the Passover. Two spots were put on the lintel, the door frame of Jewish homes, the night the Angel of Death swarmed through Egypt. If a home was marked, they were saved. The next day, Pharaoh let the people go. The exodus began.

In this daily sighting referential, the next day, John sees Jesus walking toward him and declares, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes way the sins of the world. The One I’ve been telling you about, I am here to testify, this is the Son of God.” Behold!!!

Now this Lamb is not meek and mild, sweet and pet-able. This Lamb reigns in the kindom of God, brings judgment on the wicked and grace to the righteous. This Lamb goes all the way to the cross, open-eyed, filled with compassion for the ones who kill Him, ‘Forgive them Father, they do not know what they are doing.”

The next day, John points his finger to Jesus again, here is the One and some of John’s disciples turn from him and follow Jesus. They found what they were looking for, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.

These two guys brought two guys, infamous Simon, née Peter. John’s witness is complete and he fades away. Behold!!!

Do you ever wonder why they started following Jesus? He didn’t convince them with words or explain an action plan to defeat the Romans and rule the world. This one comes eating and drinking with sinners - you might say He hangs out in bars and goes to ball games! No lofty airs, no see how smart I am? I have a Master’s Degree! No patriarchal arrogance, just a real life, Spirit-filled human who takes away the sin of the world. The Capital S Sin of the world.

Our salvation, this taking away of sin by the Lamb, is constituted in the WORD becoming flesh and dwelling with us. It is this action that reveals, makes manifest, is an Epiphany. Jesus did not dole out salvation one at a time like a pardon before a judge. Atonement was not handed over just to me or just to you. Rather, we, all of humanity, have been brought into the God-head, what we call the Trinity, God abiding with us. In heaven, on earth, and in the miry bogs of our daily lives. Jesus becomes flesh and dwells with us, a permanent action, Behold!!!

This is your great gift to take with you and pass along in your own daily living. This forgiveness. It is a constant process of guilt removal, with the added bonus of Spirit-baptizing, two sides of the same experience labeled conversion, Dan Bruner says. It is not a one and done kind of thing. It is a process of transformation, life long, making all things new, making all things beautiful, making all things sacred, making all things holy. Including you, Beloveds.

Listen to the cadence of the Baptist’s words: Behold; The Lamb, Behold, the Sin, Behold the world. At the very beginning of Jesus’ adult ministry, the cross looms. This is The Sin, capital S, the original, the one from Genesis 3, the stain upon fallen humanity since the beginning. “Who told you you were naked?” The aching heart of the Living God, broken open. Behold!!!

The root of all other smallish sins, this fundamental focus on Me! As my god, whom I worship, it is all and always about Me! This is the sin that fouls relationships and personhood, first with God, certainly with one another.

We did not get what we deserve. Judgment by God is legitimate as creatures to a creator. Yet, in this act, Jesus takes our place and declares, “It is finished.” It is done, the Lamb, the Suffering Servant, the last sacrifice, His blood shed. It is not a partial atonement only for some. It is for all. This past action, 2100 years ago, is written in present tense participles to indicate the on-going power of Jesus’ atoning work on the cross. So it matters today, for you and me and the world. We call it grace. Behold!!!

What I find difficult is ‘the whole world’ part. Salvation for all? Even the worst evil doers alive today? Even the ones who pay absolutely no attention to this grace offered? How can it be? In our Reformed Tradition, we say God calls and we respond. But what if we don’t? Are we still saved? Hmmmm

I do know this: The cross does not stand alone, a singular sacrifice. We must be reminded of Jesus’ life: from the beatitudes -Blessed are - to the woman ‘caught’ in adultery all by herself; calling tax collectors and sinners; dining with the Pharisees. Living life full of glory.

This glory is open and welcoming.

This glory forgives and gives up judgment.

This glory stands up and shouts NO to oppressors and exploiters.

This glory says Yes to you. Behold!!!

I trust the witness of Jesus’ life.

He hated violence, oppression, injustice.

He hated the little ones being smashed by the big ones.

He invited people to rest.

He reassured them of God’s deep and abiding love for them.

He redeemed the violent.

He restored the broken-hearted.

He welcomed the outcast.

It is this mutual sense of being WITH Christ and He WITH us as we live into our salvation. The gift of Christ’s life, death and resurrection is the completion of the promise of God: God is for us and God is with us. It is why we gather to worship every Sunday, to say thanks. We are saved

Now the tricky part for more progressive Christians. Tell someone else. The church is the church because someone told somebody. It’s not a soap box, it is an invitation. Behold!!!